header image

[Sign Up Now] to Receive Our FREE Daily SCVTV-SCVNews Digest by E-Mail

Inside
Weather


 
Calendar
Today in
S.C.V. History
September 19
1863 - Gen. Edward F. Beale loans money to A.A. Hudson and Oliver P. Robbins to erect toll house in Newhall Pass [story]
toll house


| Wednesday, Dec 30, 2020
reforms
New Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón takes the oath of office on Dec. 7, 2020. | Courtesy photo.

 

A Los Angeles County judge on Wednesday ordered new District Attorney George Gascón to show why criminal justice reforms he enacted — which county prosecutors say conflict with state law — should not be blocked.

The order by L.A. County Superior Court Judge David J. Cowan stems from a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the Association of Deputy District Attorneys of Los Angeles (ADDA). The union’s lawsuit comes less than a month after Gascón took office and enacted reforms prosecutors run afoul of state laws including the state’s Three Strikes Law.

In a statement following Cowan’s order, Gascón acknowledged the criminal justice system will take time to adjust to his reforms — which he said voters demanded by electing him over the incumbent D.A. Jackie Lacey.

“The will of the voters must not be mistaken as a commentary on the hundreds of deputy DAs who labor, day in and day out, to protect the public,” Gascón said. “They are public servants who have earned our utmost respect and gratitude. They certainly have mine — and a sincere invitation to join me in making these much-needed changes.”

Gascón became the county’s top prosecutor in the wake of a tumultuous year that saw the fatal shootings of unarmed Black people by police that galvanized protests across the country. Throughout his campaign, Gascón promised reforms and sweeping changes which he delivered Dec. 7 — his first day in office — when he eliminated cash bail for misdemeanor charges and told prosecutors to stop seeking the death penalty.

He also ordered prosecutors to stop filing charges with criminal enhancements, which can make for harsher penalties. Under California’s Three Strikes Law, anyone convicted of two criminal charges can see an enhancement that can increase their sentence to 25 years to life in prison.

His day-one actions garnered immediate pushback.

L.A. City Councilman Paul Koretz claimed Gascón missed the mark by doing away with hate crime enhancements, calling attention to the record number of hate crimes against the transgender community. Gascón backpedaled and said prosecutors could file enhancements for crimes committed against the “most vulnerable” including children and the elderly, and for hate crimes.

But that left in place directives that violate California’s Three Strikes Law, according to the deputy DAs’ lawsuit. They claim Gascón’s reform policies violate prosecutors’ “oaths of office” to uphold state law and overrides their discretion to apply enhancements for prior strikes.

“Simply put, none of them may be alleged or proven by county prosecutors under any circumstances, regardless of the evidence or other circumstances,” the deputy D.A.’s say in their 18-page complaint. “Accordingly, prosecutors have a ministerial duty to allege all prior convictions under the Three Strikes Law. Respondents have refused, and are refusing, to perform this duty.”

Gascón may have the discretion to decide what charges are filed, his deputy prosecutors say, but he cannot decline that authority indiscriminately.

“Simply put, respondents have a ministerial duty to enforce the law and to exercise their prosecutorial discretion in particular cases,” the deputy D.A.’s say.

Their union vice president, Deputy D.A. Eric Siddall, said LA prosecutors are “in an impossible position.”

“Do we follow our legal and ethical responsibilities and risk getting disciplined, even fired, by our new boss? Or do we follow his policy directives and risk losing our California State Bar cards and, by extension, our ability to practice law anywhere in the state? We’re asking a court to answer those questions,” Siddall said in a statement.

The prosecutors’ union did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They’re represented by Eric George from Brown George Ross O’Brien.

But their lawsuit received immediate condemnation from reform-minded legal experts.

University of California, Berkeley Law School dean Erwin Chemerinsky, Stanford Law School professor David Mills and Michael Romano, director of Stanford Law School’s Three Strikes Project said in a joint statement the California Supreme Court gives district attorneys complete authority on how to enforce state criminal law in their counties.

“The Deputy District Attorneys Association’s concern over striking enhancements is inconsistent with their decades-long silence when former district attorneys often dismissed enhancements and Three Strikes allegations in the interests of justice,” they said. “That the association now claims the practice to be unlawful is more reflective of their longstanding opposition to reform and the will of millions of Angelenos than it is the legality of DA Gascón’s directives.”

And Miriam Krinsky, executive director of Fair and Just Prosecution — a network of reform-minded prosecutors — said that while the prosecutors might view Gascón’s reforms as radical, those are exactly the policies that put him in office.

Krinsky, a former federal prosecutor in L.A., said the criminal justice system has wasted billions of dollars to incarcerate people for decades rather than invest in prevention programs and provide positive support in communities most impacted by aggressive policing.

“We spent a lot of money and destroyed a lot of communities and didn’t make our communities safer in the process,” Krinsky said in a phone interview. “Not everyone is going to like it, but at the end of the day we’ll all be better off.”

— By Nathan Solis, CNS

Comment On This Story
COMMENT POLICY: We welcome comments from individuals and businesses. All comments are moderated. Comments are subject to rejection if they are vulgar, combative, or in poor taste.
REAL NAMES ONLY: All posters must use their real individual or business name. This applies equally to Twitter account holders who use a nickname.

2 Comments

  1. LETICIA HINOJOSA says:

    Gascon should realize that’s the reforms he’s trying to implement in L.A. County were also implemented in the San Francisco area where he worked previously. It was reported that by the time he left, the crime rate had significantly escalated. I fear his policies could ruin our county as well and frankly, we do not need more crime out here! Criminals no longer fear getting arrested when they break the laws!

  2. Susie Evans says:

    Doesn’t the DA have to follow the laws as they are? I don’t think he can arbitrarily decide what laws to enforce or apply, can he?

Leave a Comment


SCV NewsBreak
LOCAL NEWS HEADLINES
Wednesday, Sep 18, 2024
Sept. 21: JCI Invites All Veterans to Upcoming Resource Fair
JCI Santa Clarita is proud to announce the upcoming Veteran’s Resource Fair, scheduled to take place on Sept. 21 at William S. Hart Park. 
Tuesday, Sep 17, 2024
Sept. 19: SENSES Pirate Block Party
Get ready to set sail at the Pirates SENSES Block Party, presented by the city of Santa Clarita, Thursday, Sept 19 from 7-10 p.m. on main street in Old Town Newhall.
Tuesday, Sep 17, 2024
Foothill League Football Begins for SCV Teams
Six of the seven Foothill League Varsity football teams begin league play Friday night, Sept. 20.
Keep Up With Our Facebook

Latest Additions to SCVNews.com
1863 - Gen. Edward F. Beale loans money to A.A. Hudson and Oliver P. Robbins to erect toll house in Newhall Pass [story]
toll house
The Counties of Los Angeles and San Bernardino today announced the opening of multiple joint Local Assistance Centers to assist residents impacted by the Bridge and Line Fires.
L.A., San Bernardino Counties to Open Joint Local Assistance Centers for Residents Impacted by Bridge and Line Fires
Valencia Gynecology Associates, owned by longtime Santa Clarita Valley OB-GYN physician Don Nishiguchi, MD, has joined the Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital network. 
Valencia Gynecology Assoc. Joins Henry Mayo Network
JCI Santa Clarita is proud to announce the upcoming Veteran’s Resource Fair, scheduled to take place on Sept. 21 at William S. Hart Park. 
Sept. 21: JCI Invites All Veterans to Upcoming Resource Fair
A "friendies" field tournament  is being  hosted by the Saugus Instrumental Music program, with support from Valencia High, later this month. 
Sept. 21: All Valley Showcase Comes to Valencia High
Public, member-supported 88.5 FM The SoCal Sound, Southern California’s leading Triple-A (adult album alternative) format radio station has announced the lineup for its inaugural “Year-End Bash” taking place on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Dec. 7: CSUN Owned 88.5-FM The SoCal Sound Announces “Year End Bash” Lineup featuring Ben Gibbard
The Master's University cross-country teams continued their successful 2024 campaigns with strong finishes at the BIOLA Invitational on Friday, Sept. 13 at Craig Regional Park in Fullerton, Calif.
TMU Women Win, Men Place Second at XC Invitational
Sheriff’s Department Announces New Law Enforcement Gang Policy
Sheriff’s Department Announces New Law Enforcement Gang Policy
The biology department at California State University, Northridge has stayed committed to promoting STEM research carried out by K-12 students and teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
CSUN Student Research Journal Celebrates 28 Years of Inspiring Scientific Imagination
Did you know the SCVEDC has an interactive, online tool that provides themed virtual tours of the amazing features the community has to offer? 
Take a Virtual Tour of the Santa Clarita Valley
California Institute of the Arts alum and visionary filmmaker Tim Burton (Film/Video 1979) was honored with the 2,788th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
CalArts Alum Tim Burton Receives Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
1962 - Articles of incorporation filed for Golden State Memorial Hospital on Lyons Avenue [story]
Golden State Hospital
The Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center welcomes back Jim Curry for an evening concert celebrating the music of John Denver on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 5 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom at Bella Vida.
Oct. 5: SCV Senior Center Welcomes Jim Curry ‘Take Me Home’
As part of the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency's ongoing commitment to ensuring local groundwater quality and reliability, the SCV Water recently began construction on a new treatment facility to remove perchlorate and volatile organic compounds at Well 205 in Valencia.
SCV Water Begins New Water Treatment Project in Valencia
Get ready to set sail at the Pirates SENSES Block Party, presented by the city of Santa Clarita, Thursday, Sept 19 from 7-10 p.m. on main street in Old Town Newhall.
Sept. 19: SENSES Pirate Block Party
No. 21 College of the Canyons football team knocked off No. 5 Fullerton College 29-13 on Saturday night behind a stifling defensive effort and five field goals from Luis Rodriguez.
No. 21 Canyons Knocks Off No. 5 Fullerton 29-13
Six of the seven Foothill League Varsity football teams begin league play Friday night, Sept. 20.
Foothill League Football Begins for SCV Teams
The California Institute of the Arts will present the "NAACP Santa Clarita Masquerade Ball", Friday, Oct. 4, 7-11 p.m. at 24700 McBean Parkway, Valencia, CA 91355.
Oct. 4: NAACP Santa Clarita Masquerade Ball at Cal Arts
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is investigating two human cases of a rare parasitic infection, Baylisascaris procyonis, also known as raccoon roundworm.
Public Health Investigating Disease Spread from Animals to Humans
1879 - First official Newhall School building erected near Walnut & Ninth streets [story]
First Newhall School
The city of Santa Clarita is hosting Make A Difference Day on Saturday, Oct. 26 and is looking for enthusiastic residents to volunteer for various projects that benefit local nonprofits, as well as the city.
Oct. 26: Volunteers Needed for Make a Difference Day
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital and PathPoint announced the graduation of Aiden Land and Andrew Mendence from the Project SEARCH internship program.
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, PathPoint Celebrate Grad Interns
The William S. Hart Union High School District has announced upcoming community information meetings about Learning Post Academy Independent Study School, Thursday, Sept. 18 and Friday, Sept. 19.
Sept. 18-19: Learning Post Academy Online Information Meetings
The Santa Clarita Community College District Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting Wednesday, Sept. 18, 5 p.m. in open session to interview and appoint a new trustee for Area 5.
Sept. 18: COC Board to Interview, Appoint Area 5 Trustee
SCVNews.com